| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4 5] > | Welcome to the forum for translation in Canada. Thread poster: Henry Dotterer
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Hi all,
In response to a request at the recent Montreal conference, we have created this forum for issues specific to translation in Canada.
Damon Loomer, who was at the conference, has agreed to moderate; I'll turn things over to him once he is set up with moderator rights.
In the meantime, anyone who would like to introduce themselves in this forum is invited to do so!
Regards,
Henry
| | | | Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 08:55
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| Hello Canadians... | Nov 5, 2007 |
Henry D wrote:
In response to a request at the recent Montreal conference, we have created this forum for issues specific to translation in Canada.
I'm not a Canadian myself (and I only barely have enough points on the Canadian immigration scale (just kidding)), but...
Tell me a little about translation in your country, would you?
How many translation and language related professional associations do you have in Canada (and what are their names)? How does sworn translation work in Canada? Is there a demand for the First Nations languages (I mean, a demand outside the territories), and are there many professional translators in those languages? What laws that outsiders might find peculiar do you have in Canada with regard to translation?
How many people outside Quebec really speak French? And is it true that many Quebecians do not understand English?
Is the average minimum temperature in Manitoba really minus fourty, and if so, how on earth can you translate at all in such a weather? (sorry, another wildcard)
Just a few questions to get the ball rolling...
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Hi, Samuel,
Interesting questions - and living in Canada I can hardly provide any insight in the area of aboriginal languages - shame on me! I believe the language of Inuit people is actively used, other languages of the First Nations are more like Latin... And they definitely have to be preserved.
Among your questions there was one about professional associations...
I am wondering what do you consider a truly professional assocaition with regard to translation in... See more Hi, Samuel,
Interesting questions - and living in Canada I can hardly provide any insight in the area of aboriginal languages - shame on me! I believe the language of Inuit people is actively used, other languages of the First Nations are more like Latin... And they definitely have to be preserved.
Among your questions there was one about professional associations...
I am wondering what do you consider a truly professional assocaition with regard to translation industry?
In my opinion a real professional assocation shall include - I mean full members - only those having relevant professional education (here it will be translation or other language-related degree as well as ample and proven professional experience). Well, like the Bar Assoc for lawyers or some Assoc for medical doctors or engineers... with translation associations I do not see it happening.
Do you believe that a 'successfully passed "certification exam" consisting of some 300-500 word segment to translate can really make someone a 'professional' or 'certified' translator without years of thorough academic language studies? Well I don't. And I think that translation industry actually suffers from such practices loosing its face so to say. And that's what those "professional" associations primarily do striving to maintain a body of members who pay annual fees, exam fees, certification fees, you name it.
Talking about our weather. I live on the West coast, we have Yukon and Alaska pretty close, but do you know that we also have several species of humminbirds living right here on the Vancouver island? And the palm trees sometimes grow here together with cedars and firs... And we do not have a real winter here on the West coast - it's more like a longer fall and a longer spring
Samuel Murray wrote:
How many translation and language related professional associations do you have in Canada (and what are their names)? How does sworn translation work in Canada? Is there a demand for the First Nations languages (I mean, a demand outside the territories), and are there many professional translators in those languages? What laws that outsiders might find peculiar do you have in Canada with regard to translation?
How many people outside Quebec really speak French? And is it true that many Quebecians do not understand English?
Is the average minimum temperature in Manitoba really minus fourty, and if so, how on earth can you translate at all in such a weather? (sorry, another wildcard)
Just a few questions to get the ball rolling...
[Edited at 2007-11-05 07:57]
[Edited at 2007-11-05 07:58] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Language distribution in Canada | Nov 5, 2007 |
Hi, My name is Hélène Treloar,
I was born in Québec City and have lived in Toronto for the past 30 years.
Here is some information that I found on language distribution in Canada. By the way, Chinese languages are the fastest growin in Canada.
English only French only Both
NB 406,995 66,415 245,870
QC 327,045 3,831,350 2,907,700
ON 9,690,745 42,305 1,315,715
MA ... See more Hi, My name is Hélène Treloar,
I was born in Québec City and have lived in Toronto for the past 30 years.
Here is some information that I found on language distribution in Canada. By the way, Chinese languages are the fastest growin in Canada.
English only French only Both
NB 406,995 66,415 245,870
QC 327,045 3,831,350 2,907,700
ON 9,690,745 42,305 1,315,715
MA 990,280 1,250 102,840
AL 2,704,895 1,895 202,905
BC 3,493,680 1,815 269,365
The other provinces are mostly English speaking
Source: Statistics Canada, Census of population.
Last modified: 2005-01-27.
I hope that this helps. ▲ Collapse
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| Language distribution in Canada | Nov 5, 2007 |
Hi, My name is Hélène Treloar,
I was born in Québec City and have lived in Toronto for the past 30 years.
Here is some information that I found on language distribution in Canada. By the way, Chinese languages are the fastest growin in Canada.
-------English only-----French only-----Both
NB------406,995----------66,41----------245,870
QC------327,045------3,831,350------2,907,700
ON----9,690,745----------42,305------1,315,715
MA-------990,280--... See more Hi, My name is Hélène Treloar,
I was born in Québec City and have lived in Toronto for the past 30 years.
Here is some information that I found on language distribution in Canada. By the way, Chinese languages are the fastest growin in Canada.
-------English only-----French only-----Both
NB------406,995----------66,41----------245,870
QC------327,045------3,831,350------2,907,700
ON----9,690,745----------42,305------1,315,715
MA-------990,280-----------1,250---------102,840
AL-----2,704,895-----------1,895----------202,905
BC-----3,493,680-----------1,815----------269,365
The other provinces are mostly English speaking
Source: Statistics Canada, Census of population.
Last modified: 2005-01-27.
I hope that this helps. ▲ Collapse
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Hello,
I'm Steven, working out of Fredericton NB for 2 years at an agency and 9 years as a freelancer, mainly FR>EN (certified since 97) along with some ES>EN and (with revision help from certified colleagues) EN>FR. About 85% of my work is for agencies, the rest for a few private clients. Some of you have probably seen posts from me on other forums. I use a Mac and have experience with Trados, Wordfast, OmegaT and AppleTrans but use mainly Heartsome at this time. Cheers to all.
| | | | | Great Idea, Henry. Thank you! | Nov 5, 2007 |
Henry, thanks very much for setting this up for us Canadians! And welcome, Damon as our fearless Canadian moderator!
I have been a freelance translator for the last 16 months, and my main pairs are Spanish>English, French>English, and LatinEnglish, as well as English>Spanish. I also work in ESEN interpretation in the Toronto-area and abroad. My specializations are literary, art, religious, business, and finance.
I think English-speaking Canadians have an advantage wh... See more Henry, thanks very much for setting this up for us Canadians! And welcome, Damon as our fearless Canadian moderator!
I have been a freelance translator for the last 16 months, and my main pairs are Spanish>English, French>English, and LatinEnglish, as well as English>Spanish. I also work in ESEN interpretation in the Toronto-area and abroad. My specializations are literary, art, religious, business, and finance.
I think English-speaking Canadians have an advantage when it comes to translating because we are in touch with both English UK and US language influences, enabling us to translate into both variants.
I look forward to participating in this forum, eh! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Juliana Brown
Israel
Local time: 02:55
Member (2007)
Spanish to English
+ ...
First the dollar (though this is not all good for us...) and now this!
I live in Toronto, and translate mostly from Spanish and Hebrew to English, specializing in the arts (I have a Ph.D in Comp. Lit.), immigration (I also work for the Immigration Board as an interpreter) and NGO/Social Sciences for the most part.
I would love this to become a good networking source....
I couldn't make it to Montreal (2 small kids, one busy husband and no babysitter), so this is wonderful.
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| Bravo!! Bonne idée! And a few answers to Samuel d'Afrique du Sud | Nov 5, 2007 |
Bonjour de Montréal!
Tout d'abord, un grand merci au bel Henri...! Très bonne idée!
Je suis née et je vis toujours à Montréal, P.Q. Je suis traductrice (E →F), correctrice-réviseure (F) indépendante depuis 6 ans... C'est un retour à mon premier métier - traduction - après avoir travaillé dans d'autres domaines.
J'espère que ce nouveau forum pourra me servir... puisque je sui... See more Bonjour de Montréal!
Tout d'abord, un grand merci au bel Henri...! Très bonne idée!
Je suis née et je vis toujours à Montréal, P.Q. Je suis traductrice (E →F), correctrice-réviseure (F) indépendante depuis 6 ans... C'est un retour à mon premier métier - traduction - après avoir travaillé dans d'autres domaines.
J'espère que ce nouveau forum pourra me servir... puisque je suis justement en train de faire une étude de marché sur ma clientèle-cible, ici, dans mon coin de pays...
A Samuel, (I hope you understand French)
J'aimerais vous préciser qu'ici nous nous appelons "Québécois" et non "Quebecians" like you say in your message... Unless you wanted to make a joke... but I'm sorry, it does not sound too good that word... It makes me think of "anciens". Of course, there are many Québecois who do not understand English... let say, mainly outside Montreal (for the French-speaking people) and there are many néo-Québécois who do not speak English either nor French... just as there is a large number of English-speaking Québécois who have allways lived here and don't learn or want to learn the official language of Québec... That's an old story... We could speak about it some other time, if you are interested in the history of our country - le "plussss beau pays du monde" (dixit the ex-Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chrétien).
You can find French-speaking people in the different provinces, the Acadiens in Nouveau-Brunswick and Nouvelle-Écosse, les Franco-Ontariens en Ontario, les Franco-Manitobains, etc.....
Quant aux associations professionnelles - au Québec, il y a l'ordre professionnel, l'OTTIAQ, soit l'Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec, voir www.ottiaq.org. L'OTTIAQ compte plusieurs affiliations nationale et internationale avec : le Conseil des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes du Canada (CTTIC), la Fédération internationale des traducteurs (FIT), l'Association des traducteurs et traductrices littéraires du Canada (ATTLC), l'American Translators Association, L'Asociacion de Traductores Profesionales (ATP) et l'Organizacion Mexicana de Traductores (OMT) (Mexique), etc.... Il y a aussi l'Association de l'industrie de la langue (AILIA).
As to the weather, in Quebec, we have the four seasons and I love it! Each have their beauty. In January, it can get to -30 C (in Montreal) but we will not talk about the NUNAVUT... I personnaly like winter, the only thing is that it lasts for about 5 months... And like Gilles Vigneault, one of our great poet, sings : "Mon pays ce n'est pas un pays, c'est l'hiver!" ("My country is not a country, it's Winter"! ♪♪ And during the summer it can get to 30 C, 35 C.
Salut pour maintenant!
[Edited at 2007-11-05 18:34] ▲ Collapse
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I couldn't resist, I had to type the French equivalent to yippee...
I am really glad that this forum was opened. I have always thought that the translation business in Canada, and particularly in Quebec because of the different French we speak here, is more complex than in most other countries. As Juliana says, we already have a particular situation here with parity and beyond, but there are other issues Canadian tran... See more I couldn't resist, I had to type the French equivalent to yippee...
I am really glad that this forum was opened. I have always thought that the translation business in Canada, and particularly in Quebec because of the different French we speak here, is more complex than in most other countries. As Juliana says, we already have a particular situation here with parity and beyond, but there are other issues Canadian translators share that are not necessarily valid in other countries.
Samuel, your questions are most interesting. I don't live in Manitoba, but trust me, the Canadian winter is all over the place, and I have experienced -40 degrees in Montreal a lot. In fact, -40 is worse in Montreal than it is in Western Canada, because the relative humidity in the whereabouts of the St-Lawrence river well exceeds that in Manitoba. In that sense, winter in Montreal can be a lot bigger pain in the butt than in the West. But I find that working at home in such weather is definitely a winning situation - I would hate to wait for the bus in a snowstorm, and can't quite remember what it's like now.
I don't know about the demand for Native American languages, but I suspect it is next to none, since the natives of Canada, although many of them still speak the languages of their ancestors, all speak English (and/or French, to a lesser extent) except for a few. Whatever they write in their own native language is probably never published in other languages and is only meant to keep their culture alive. When they do write for audiences that are not exclusively Native American, they probably start by writing in English. I also believe that these languages are very much endangered and help is needed to preserve them - but these people are already so anglicized that I am afraid nothing can stop this trend now, unless some very strong initiatives are taken. This saddens me a lot...
Thanks again for this initiative, it is most welcome! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Hi, all, welcome. I posted another thread about the wiki-type article on the industry in Canada... | Nov 5, 2007 |
Nice to hear from you all - including those who did not make it to the conference. It seems from the input at the conference, and the feedback here, that networking and discussing issues particular to Canada is not a bad idea. Thanks to those who stepped forward to introduce themselves first!
I have posted about that "Translation Industry in Canada" wiki article I mentioned in the newsletter. Hopefully a few of you will be interested... See more Nice to hear from you all - including those who did not make it to the conference. It seems from the input at the conference, and the feedback here, that networking and discussing issues particular to Canada is not a bad idea. Thanks to those who stepped forward to introduce themselves first!
I have posted about that "Translation Industry in Canada" wiki article I mentioned in the newsletter. Hopefully a few of you will be interested in taking a section! See: http://www.proz.com/topic/88567 ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Hello from Halifax | Nov 5, 2007 |
This forum grew out of the Montreal conference a few weeks ago. I think everyone there wanted to keep talking and exchanging ideas, opinions, experiences, even as the last coffee trolley was being wheeled away! I hope some of that enthusiastic discussion will continue here.
In Nova Scotia, in the meantime, we're just getting back to normal after "post-tropical storm Noel" hit Saturday overnight. Nothing like hurrican Juan (in '03), thank goodness. 14 hours without power, though -- one of t... See more This forum grew out of the Montreal conference a few weeks ago. I think everyone there wanted to keep talking and exchanging ideas, opinions, experiences, even as the last coffee trolley was being wheeled away! I hope some of that enthusiastic discussion will continue here.
In Nova Scotia, in the meantime, we're just getting back to normal after "post-tropical storm Noel" hit Saturday overnight. Nothing like hurrican Juan (in '03), thank goodness. 14 hours without power, though -- one of the challenges of freelance translation around here has become working offline on a laptop in the cold (on a "rush job" for Monday!).
I look forward to getting to know you all. ▲ Collapse
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| Another hello from Halifax | Nov 5, 2007 |
Hi all!
I work only English into Spanish and Spanish into English, some agencies, some direct clients, but always good.
I do not know that much about the Canadian market really, since most of my clients are in the USA (whci at this time is not the best because of the exchange rate), some in Mexico and some others in Europe.
I look forward to comments, ideas, and whatever else can come into this forum.
This weekend, with the storm Noel, my baby... See more Hi all!
I work only English into Spanish and Spanish into English, some agencies, some direct clients, but always good.
I do not know that much about the Canadian market really, since most of my clients are in the USA (whci at this time is not the best because of the exchange rate), some in Mexico and some others in Europe.
I look forward to comments, ideas, and whatever else can come into this forum.
This weekend, with the storm Noel, my baby girls slide turned up a few homes down the street Sunday morning, other than that, I was lucky, did not even loose power!
Cheers to everybody
Rufino ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ingeborg Gowans (X)
Canada
Local time: 03:55
English to German
+ ...
Damon Loomer wrote:
This forum grew out of the Montreal conference a few weeks ago. I think everyone there wanted to keep talking and exchanging ideas, opinions, experiences, even as the last coffee trolley was being wheeled away! I hope some of that enthusiastic discussion will continue here.
In Nova Scotia, in the meantime, we're just getting back to normal after "post-tropical storm Noel" hit Saturday overnight. Nothing like hurrican Juan (in '03), thank goodness. 14 hours without power, though -- one of the challenges of freelance translation around here has become working offline on a laptop in the cold (on a "rush job" for Monday!).
I look forward to getting to know you all.
HOPE THE STORM DIDN'T CAUSE ANY SERIOUS DAMAGE IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD. sAW IT ON THE NEWS.(sorry for the caplocks; they seem to come on by themselves)
I think it's great that you are willing to be our moderator.
Halifax is a second home to our family. We spend all our summers there.
I am working in new Brunswick (Edmundston) and the proximity of Quebec menas that I am living in a 95% French population.
Language pairs English/German and French/German/English . I think this is a super idea to have a Forum for Canadians. eh??
| | | | | Greetings from Sainte-Anne-de-la-Perade | Nov 5, 2007 |
Hello. I translate mostly from French to English and Spanish to English, with some proofreading thrown in to fill in the gaps. I started translating part time for a small agency in Trois-Rivières almost 4 years ago and when I decided to go full-time, I signed up with ProZ.com and have never regretted my decision.
Living on the outskirts of a small town, I really appreciate being able to generate revenue without having to drive somewhere. The world comes to me, reflected from an ... See more Hello. I translate mostly from French to English and Spanish to English, with some proofreading thrown in to fill in the gaps. I started translating part time for a small agency in Trois-Rivières almost 4 years ago and when I decided to go full-time, I signed up with ProZ.com and have never regretted my decision.
Living on the outskirts of a small town, I really appreciate being able to generate revenue without having to drive somewhere. The world comes to me, reflected from an antenna mounted on the bell tower of our local church, and collected by the microwave antenna on my roof.
One thing I enjoy about translating is being able to learn about fields of endeavor that I would otherwise never think of researching.
I look forward to exchanging ideas with all of you.
Janet ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4 5] > | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Welcome to the forum for translation in Canada. | TM-Town | Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business
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